High school students dig into nature during 2022 Westmoreland County Envirothon

Chilly temperatures Thursday didn’t keep local high school students indoors during Westmoreland County’s 2022 Envirothon.

Students from eight districts gathered at Twin Lakes Park, east of Greensburg, to learn about forestry, wildlife, aquatics, soil and solid waste management. Throughout the day, students rotated between six stations that offered various types of hands-on environmental experience.

“(The Envirothon) gives the students a great appreciation for the environment and how we interact with that environment,” said Greg King, biology teacher at Yough High School.

Teams completed a test at every station. When the event ended, Envirothon organizers from the Westmoreland Conservation District tallied each team’s scores.

One of Norwin High School’s teams ultimately pulled off the win and will move on to the state Envirothon. Norwin also won last year’s competition.

Other participating high schools included: Derry Area, Franklin Regional, Greensburg Salem, Kiski Area, Mt. Pleasant, Southmoreland and Yough.

Amanda Anticole, a junior at Norwin, attended the event through her AP environmental science class. She said the Envirothon offered “real-life experience.”

“It definitely connects a lot of what we’re learning about in AP environmental,” Anticole said.

Norwin senior William Baverso agreed, adding the Envirothon provided “a knowledge of what’s around us.”

Tony Quadro – the Westmoreland Conservation District assistant manager who started the Envirothon 38 years ago – said the competition aspect of the event gives students “incentive” to learn about the environment.

“Overall, it helps the students who are interested in the environment learn a little bit more about each one of the topic areas,” Quadro said. “Hopefully they become more environmentally aware adults.”

Last year’s Envirothon took place virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. Interacting with the environment and people in person is preferable to a remote format, said Jen Novak, education coordinator with the Westmoreland Conservation District.

She hopes students took away life lessons from this year’s Envirothon.

“It’s all about stewardship,” Novak said. “Everyone has a role in the stewardship of our natural resources, even if they don’t go into a career related to natural resources.”